Suspect jailed in alleged unprovoked attack on gardener in West Covina

Police, aided by a tipster, arrested a transient who struck a gardener in the head with a rock in an unprovoked attack Friday, officials said.

Andrew Lopez, a 24-year-old transients known to frequent the West Covina area, was arrested Friday afternoon in connection with the alleged assault with a deadly weapon, which took place about 10 a.m. at Amar Road and Woodgate Drive, West Covina police Lt. Dennis Patton said.

A landscaper was using a leaf blower when he spotted another man out of the corner of his eye, Patton said.

“Without provocation or any exchange of words, the subject throws a rock at him, striking him in the area of his forehead,” the lieutenant said.

The gardener suffered a half-inch cut but declined to be hospitalized via ambulance, Patton said. He was taken by his employer for medical treatment.

The suspect was not found when police searched the area, but the gardener was able to provide officers with a detailed description of the attacker.

A local apartment manager saw the attacker’s description in a report on the San Gabriel Valley Tribune’s website and recognized him as a man who had just been in the area, Patton said.

Officers responded to the area where the tipster reported last seeing the man and found him, Patton said. He was detained without a struggle, and arrested once he was identified by the gardener as his attacker.

Based on the alleged unprovoked violence exhibited by the suspect, Patton said police were relieved to have him in custody before he potentially injured someone else.

A motive in the alleged attack was not clear.

According to Los Angeles County booking records, Lopez was being held in lieu of $30,000 bail at the West Covina Police Department’s jail Friday pending a scheduled arraignment Tuesday in West Covina Superior Court.